Cub Cadet Z-Force problem

[sandman73]

I have a 6-year-old Cub Cadet Z-Force 48 inch. I was mowing grass and pulled the levers back to back up, the blades cut off (like normal). When I released the levers, the blades did not re-engage. Checked PTO gap and it was 0.015. I reset to 0.012. I checked fire going to electric PTO clutch, no fire. Replaced PTO switch, cut grass for 1-1/2 hours and everything worked fine. Backed up one more time and blades cut off like normal and did not come back on when levers were released. Open for any suggestions. Thanks.

 

[OldMachinist]

I had a problem with clippings acumulated around the little tabs that the levers push to activate the reverse cutout switches and mine wouldn't come back on. Cleaned out around them and it been working. So I'd pull both covers off and clean them out.

 

[MarkV]

Is your battery good and strong. The electric PTO takes a pretty good draw on the battery. Mine would start and run fine but the marginal battery would not kick in the PTO until I replaced it.

MarkV

 

[sandman73]

I use an air compressor to blow the mower off after cutting each time, no dirt inside the cover, and the cover was off when I replaced the PTO switch.

As far as the battery, it cranks up and runs fine with plenty of fire. Everything worked fine until I pulled the levers back to go in reverse. The mower has been cranking and running fine. This is the first problem I have had with the mower in 6 years.

 

[OldMachinist]

But it might be the switch on the other side that you didn't need to take off or one of the switches maybe sticking. I looked at the wiring diagram again and these switches are the only thing in the reverse cutout circuit.

 

[sandman73]

Checked the other switch, no grass or trash and works fine.

 

[OldMachinist]

With the mower running, PTO switch on, ether sitting in the seat or seat switch bypassed check for 12+ on the two blue wires that come off the PTO switch that go to the reverse cutout switches. If you have voltage there then the problem is in one of the cutout switches or the wiring to the clutch.

 

[sandman73]

Let's start from scratch with this Cub problem. I was cutting grass with my Cub Cadet Z-Force 48 inch with a 22 hp B&S. I pulled the levers back, the blades stopped turning like they were supposed to. Released the levers and the blades did not re-engage. I took a voltmeter and checked all safety switches. Everything was good. I found no fire going to the PTO at the connector under the motor. I checked the switch. I had fire going into the switch, none coming out of the 2 blue wires. I bought a new PTO switch, put it on and everything worked fine. I cut grass 1-1/2 hours, pulled the levers back, blades stopped like normal, but did not re-engage. I smelled a faint hint of wire burning. I broke out the meter again. Started checking switches again. I found that on my 6-plug wire connector by the starter, the red wire had gotten hot, so I started checking the alternator and regulator output. In the meantime, the battery went dead. It was 3 years old. It was a nonmaintenance battery. It was going bad. I checked my regulator and it was putting out too many volts. The wire had got hot on it too. I think the battery caused this. I could not find the female end of the plug, would have had to buy a whole wiring harness, so I just hard wired everything together with connectors wrapped up in tape inside a plastic protector. I bought a new regulator and new PTO switch. I put these on. Cub Cadet technical support said to reset the gap in the PTO clutch. It was 0.015. They recommended 0.010, so that is what I did. I made one whole round of my yard, about 1-1/2 acres, and was going along and the PTO quit. I brought the mower back to the house, shut it off, and it would not crank back up. I started checking for fire. I had no fire at the plugs, so I pulled the cover off. I started checking the armatures. I unhooked the ground wire to the armature and it started firing. I did this on both of them. I pulled the wiring harness off, checked all wires with it laid out on the ground. I checked the continuity on and looked at every wire, all were good. I done this because I thought it was a ground problem. It still would not crank. I unplugged the clutch and it fired right up.

So got any ideas? I think the PTO clutch is bad.